Sliding windows



5. RICH SLIDING WINDOWS Filed Oct. 18. 1956 Nav. 17, 1959 Qullvw M Quwm ATTORNEYS United States Patent SLIDING WINDOWS Samuel Rich, Oak Park, Mich.

Application October 18, 1956, Serial No. 616,816

2 Claims. (Cl. 16-100) This invention relates to an adjustable roller construction and more particularly to a roller construction useful for. supporting horizontally slidable panels which are fitted within frames, such as large size window sash which-may be slid horizontally for opening.

,An object of this invention is to provide an adjustable roller construction to support a sliding panel, such as a large window, upon tracks and wherein the roller is,

adjustable vertically so as to position the panel in a number of variable vertical positions to thereby accommodate any inaccuracy or misalignment of the panel, or of the frame supporting the panel.

A further object is to provide a roller support for a slidable panel, which roller support may be raised or lowered by means of adjusting aligned cams formed within the base of the panel.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following disclosure of which the attached drawings form a part.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 illustrates a segment of the bottom of a sliding panel and shows the roller adjustment cam in one adjusted position.

Fig. 2 illustrates the same segment as shown in Fig. l, but with the cam in a different position, whereby the roller for supporting the panel is lowered relative to the panel.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an exploded plan view of the four parts making up the roller assembly, namely, a bolt, a pair of cams, and a roller.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary cross-sectional view showing namely the panel channel construction and the pair of cams and illustrating the taper on the edges of the cams and the edges of the openings in the channel with the taper being greatly exaggerated.

In Fig. 1 a segment, taken near the bottom, of a large sliding panel 21 is shown. This panel may be a glass window sash with the glass supported within a frame and is arranged for horizontal sliding movement. It may be of the type which are large enough for a person to walk through, and thus, are used commonly as doors as well as windows. The panel is supported upon a sill 20 having an upright rail 26. As shown, the sill and the rail are integral and are in the form of an inverted T.

The panel is supported by means of a roller 25 which rolls on the top edge of the rail 26. As many rollers as are necessary may be used for each panel, such as two per panel.

The roller 25 is provided with a hub 25a which may be of a ball bearing or the like construction, and the hub is mounted upon a bolt 40. Thus, the roller may be arranged to rotate about the hub 25a and the axis of the bolt 40.

The bottom frame member 41 of the panel 21 is channeled at 44 and is provided with aligned openings 42 in the two legs forming the channel. Within these openings,i cams 43 are inserted. These cams are illustrated as being octagonal in shape and the openings 42 are likewise octagonal in shape to be complementary to the cams. The cams normally press against the hub to lock the roller in place. I i

As shown in Fig. 5, the peripheral edges of the cams may be tapered slightly and the openings 42 likewise may also be tapered slightly so that the, openings are narrower at the channel 44 and are widest at the outside of In order to adjust the axis of the roller 25, the cams I are provided with axially ofi-set openings 45 through.

which the bolt 40 passes. Thus, whenthe cams are removed and adjusted so. that the openings are in varying ppositions, but in alignment with one another, the location of the axis of theroller 25 is also changed, For example, in Fig. 4, the opening 45 is shown at the right part of the cam 43. However, in Fig. 2, the opening has been moved by rotating the earns 43 until the openings are at the lower part of the cams 43. In the second position the roller 25 is lowered relative to the panel 21. It can be seen that a number of adjustments can be made by rotating the octagonal or polygonal shaped cam. Likewise, the cams may be made as polygons of any number of equal length sides so long as the channel openings or sockets are also provided with an equal number of sides to receive the cams. Also, the term rotating as used here would normally mean removing the cams from their sockets before rotating the cams and then returning the cams to the sockets.

As shown in Fig. 3, the bolts 40 pass through one of the cams with the head of the bolt engaging that cam and threadedly engages the opening in the opposite cam.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following claims and accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read as being merely illustrative of one operative embodiment of this invention and not in a strictly limiting sense.

Having fully described an operative embodiment of this invention, I now claim:

1. An adjustable roller support for a slidable panel, said panel being channeled at its end to provide a pair of spaced legs, a roller positioned between the legs and rotatably mounted upon an axle carried by the legs and extending across the space between the legs; means for adjusting the position of the axle and roller relative to the end of the panel, said means comprising an opening formed in each of the legs and of a considerably greater size than the axle diameter, with the openings being of identical size and shape, and a cam removably fitted into each of these openings, said cams being in the form of flat plates cut into the shape of equilateral polygons, the openings being likewise of polygonal shape and complementary to the cams, so that the cams may be inserted into the openings in a variety of positions corresponding in number to the number of sides to the polygon, and the cams will be self-locked against axial rotation within their respective openings; the outer peripheral edges of the cams and the edge of the openings being complementary tapered in a direction from outside the channel legs towards the inside of the channel to form cam seats wherein the cams are locked against movement in a direction towards the inside of the channel; each of the cams being apertured, with the apertures being identically positioned in each cam and being olfset relative to the axis of each cam, and the opposite ends of the axle Patented N'ov. 17, 19 59;

being mounted within said apertures; and means for releasably locking the cams against axial movement outwardly of their seats, whereby the position of the axle may be adjusted relative to the edge of the panel by removing the cams from their respective openings, and thenreinserting the cams into their respective openings, but in a different position relative to their openings with their apertures positioned in a different location than previously.

2. An adjustable roller support for a slidable panel, said panel being channeled at its bottom end to provide a pair of spaced legs, a roller positioned between the legs and rotatably mounted upon an axle carried by the legs and extending across the space between the legs; means for adjusting the position of the axle androller relative to the bottom end of the panel, said means comprising an opening formed in each of the legs and of considerably greater size than the axle diameter, with the openings being of identical size and shape; and a cam removably fitted into each of these openings, said cams being in the form of flat plates cut into the shape of equilateral polygons, the openings being likewise of polygonal shape, complementary to the cams, so that the cams may be inserted into the openings in a variety of positions corresponding in number to the number of sides to the polygon, and the cams will be locked against rotation about their axes within their respective openings;

each of the cams being apertured, with the apertures being identically positioned ineach cam and being offset relative to the axis of each cam and the opposite ends of the axle being mounted Within said apertures, and means for releasably locking the cams against axial movement; wherein the position of the axle may be adjusted relative to the bottom edge of the panel by removing the cams from their respective openings and then reinserting the cams into their respective openings but with their apertures positioned in a different location than previously.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 172,226 White Jan. 11, 1876 188,994 Waitt Mar. 22, 1877 193,647 Freeman July 31, 1877 215,993 Townsend May 27, 1879 597,310 Tower Jan. 11, 1898 657,488 Gulick Sept. 4, 1900 695,335 Ochsner Mar. 11, 1902 1,210,911 Davis Jan. 2, 1917 2,638,189 Watkins May 12, 1953 2,638,190 Watkins May 12, 1953 2,645,807 McKee July 21, 1953 

